Haaretz reports: It has been 50 years since the Six-Day War, 100 years since the Balfour Declaration and 150 years since Mark Twain first visited Palestine.

These are just a few of the big Israel-related anniversaries of 2017. To the Jewish state’s most die-hard Christian supporters, the barrage of milestones is not mere coincidence but rather prophecy being fulfilled.

Every half century, many Christian Zionists believe, history makes a concerted push toward its endpoint: the return of the Messiah to Jerusalem. According to this pattern, something momentous should happen to Israel before the end of the year.

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